Celtics top Knicks 97-90 in OT, avoid playoff sweep

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, left, makes a move against the defense of Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

BOSTON — Carmelo Anthony missed 25 shots and the New York Knicks still almost completed a sweep of the Boston Celtics.

So with J.R. Smith coming back to provide scoring punch off the bench, the Knicks are confident they can improve on their performance in Sunday’s 97-90 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.

“I missed a lot, a ton, of shots,” Anthony said. “Defensively, we were still there. We look forward to Wednesday.”

That’s when the Knicks get their next chance to win their first playoff series in 13 years. They’ll be at home and they’ll have Smith, who was suspended by the NBA for Sunday’s game after he elbowed Jason Terry in the face in Game 3 on Friday night.

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“J.R. is a big piece of what we do, but he wasn’t here,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said, “so I’m not using that as an excuse.”

The Celtics still have a huge deficit in trying to become the first team to win after trailing a series 3-0 in the NBA playoffs.

“We have to be confident going back home,” Anthony said. “We were confident here today.”

Terry scored Boston’s last nine points and kept the Celtics’ season going. He was angry after being smacked by Smith two days earlier, but avoiding elimination was all the motivation he needed.

“It wasn’t really the elbow,” he said. “It was more (like) this is it. I mean, the season’s over. You can leave it all out here tonight and go home for a long summer or you can live to play another day.”

But, he conceded, his nose “still hurts right now. As long as I feel that, I guess I’ll be thinking about it.”

Anthony scored 36 points and Raymond Felton added 27, but New York made just 28.9 percent of its shots in the first half as Boston took a 54-35 lead.

New York had tied the game 84-84 after trailing by 20 points early in the third quarter. It was 88-all before the Celtics regained control and took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Terry. Anthony hit a short jumper, but Terry connected on a 15-footer with 50 seconds remaining for a 93-90 lead.

After Anthony missed a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to go, Terry was fouled by Steve Novak and made both free throws. He added a layup to close out the game.

With leaders such as Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics have “tremendous” pride, Terry said. “Getting swept is something that no man that’s been in this league that long wants to do. It’s disheartening.

“Now we have to go into a hostile environment and they’re going to be trying to get it over with. They don’t want to come back here, but we do.”

The Celtics showed renewed energy early after being held below 80 points in each of the first three games. They led 59-39 three minutes into the third quarter before their recent second-half woes returned.

In previous first halves, they scored just 25 points in Game 1 and 23 in Game 2. On Sunday, they were outscored 30-14 in the third quarter and led just 68-65 heading into the fourth.

“Good teams are going to make those runs,” said Garnett, who had 13 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. “It’s deflating, but we kept fighting. We found a way to get over the hump.”

Boston held a 65-51 lead when Anthony went to the bench with 3:35 remaining. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 14-3 the rest of the way behind 11 points from Felton and a 3-pointer from Iman Shumpert. Felton finished with 16 points in the quarter.

“He was huge in this game for us,” Kenyon Martin said. “Especially missing J.R., we needed someone else to make shots for us and he did that.”

The Knicks played the first half as if they had taken shooting lessons from the Celtics. New York hit just 11 of 38 shots in the half after Boston made only 39.5 percent of its total attempts in the first three games.

The Celtics found their range from the start and connected on 51.3 percent (20 for 39) in the half.

“We established our defense and we made shots,” Pierce said. “I thought it really gave us confidence when we got out to the fast start because our offense has really been struggling.”

But the Knicks still have a big advantage with three possible chances to get the one win they need to advance to the second round. They were swept in the opening round by the Celtics in 2011 then lost to the Miami Heat in five games in 2012 after dropping the first three games.

This year, the Knicks won the first two games at home then took Game 3 in Boston 90-76 on Friday night.

“We did our job when we came here. We got us a win,” Felton said. “That was our goal.”

And now the Knicks get Smith back.

“We know how dangerous he is,” Terry said. “He’s going to come out, obviously, tough, aggressive, looking to be a spark for them but we’re just resilient.”

Notes: Boston had just three offensive rebounds while the Knicks grabbed 16. ... The Celtics have been swept six times in the 112 playoff series in their history. ... The Knicks were 19-2 in their previous 21 games. The Celtics were 5-14 in their previous 19. ... For the Celtics, Garnett, Green and Brandon Bass each had four fouls five minutes into the third quarter. Bass committed his fifth with 5:10 left in the period and fouled out with 4:27 to go in the game. ... Anthony committed his fourth with 4:08 remaining in the third.